The present invention relates generally to stump grinding equipment, and more particularly to stump grinding wheels to which stump grinding teeth are attached.
In the removal of tree stumps, it is well known to those skilled in the art that a grinding device including a large, circularly shaped cutting wheel or disc is coupled to a drive motor for rotation about a central axis of the wheel. A plurality of cutting teeth are securely mounted around the periphery of the cutting wheel in complimentary pairs with the cutting bit extending radially outwardly from the edge of the wheel.
In operation, the cutting tooth bearing wheel is rotated about its central axis and brought into contact with a tree stump, thereby causing the cutting teeth mounted to the wheel to cut or chip away the stump material. The user typically stands to the side of the grinding unit and continuously sweeps the cutting wheel back and forth across the stump, thus causing the cutting teeth to continuously remove the stump material. While this operation works quite well, due to the solid, circular shape of the cutting wheel, it is oftentimes necessary for the user to stop and look at the stump to see the progress being made and to ensure that nothing will obscure the path of the grinder unit as the stump is continually removed. This, of course, increases the time in which a stump can be removed.
It is therefore a principal object and advantage of the present invention to provide a cutting wheel for a stump grinding unit that does not obscure a user""s view of the stump during the cutting operation.
It is a further object and advantages of the present invention to provide a cutting wheel for a stump grinding unit that facilitates faster removal of a stump relative to the state of the art.
It is a further object and advantage of the present invention to provide a cutting wheel for a stump grinding unit that decreases the amount of chip build up on the stump grinding teeth.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will in part be obvious, and in part appear hereinafter.
In accordance with the objects and advantages set forth herinabove, the present invention provides a cutting wheel for use on a stump grinder that includes several elongated, oval shaped holes formed through the body thereof, and a peripheral edge that includes periodic gaps formed therein in order to provide a user standing to the side of the stump grinding unit with visual access of the opposite side of the cutting wheel. The cutting wheel of the present invention includes a central axis about which it rotates and complimentary pairs of conventional tooth mounting holes formed therethrough about its peripheral edge. However, the shape of the cutting wheel is polygonal, as opposed to circular, and several oval shaped holes are formed through its body. The polygonal shape of the cutting wheel permits a user of the stump grinder unit to which it is attached with visual access of the stump being machined during the machining process. This visual access is augmented by the oval shaped holes formed through the wheel""s body which provide essentially continuous viewing therethrough while the wheel is in motion.